Image via Gavin St. Ours
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Moving is a very stressful time in everyone’s life. You’re leaving everything familiar about your world and taking it all somewhere else!
And if you’re lucky enough to be moving into a bigger, better place in this economy (rather than moving back in with mum), congratulations to you! And if you’re moving in with Mum, well, there isn’t any shame in that.
There are a lot of ways that you can save money when you’re moving house, though - and not necessarily things that you would think of immediately, either.
Purge
First things first, reduce the number of things that you’re moving! If you have less to unload, it takes less time, fewer boxes and less space in your car (or truck or van). It’s quite simple. And a rule of thumb - if something is still in a box and hasn’t been unpacked from your last move and take a hint.
Sell the contents, give them away, donate them - you obviously didn’t find them necessary in the past however many years that you have been living in your current location.
Borrow Boxes
Don’t buy boxes! Use old boxes, ask for spare boxes from your neighbors, use wine boxes. There are a lot of boxes around, and you don’t need to spend a lot of money to just buy cardboard to put your stuff in.
Plus, you can go to a recycling center (if you have one nearby) and pick up a bunch of boxes from them.
Eat Through Your Pantry
Everyone is bound to have a good deal of odds and ends in their pantry, and so many people just end up throwing away their food in a move. Don’t be one of those people!
If you have a good deal of advance notice with your move, take the time to inventory your pantry and see what you will actually eat, and then plan to eat it. Don’t keep buying groceries if you don’t have to. Get creative if you need to - breakfast for dinner, or try a new recipe to use that coconut milk that you haven’t touched.
Go Electronic (Where You Can)
Do you still have hundreds of CD’s or DVD’s and also have them stored on your computer? Unless you’re particularly attached to the physical object, get rid of any duplicates that you can in favor of the electronic version, be that music or books, photos or anything else.
I’m a voracious reader, so I understand the connection to the actual, physical object - but think about it. Would you rather move 50 pounds of physical books, or carry a Kindle in your purse? The answer should be pretty straightforward, and may motivate you to actually purge your book and music collections.
Lean On Friends And Family
Especially if you are younger and don’t necessarily have a massive acquisition of stuff that happens as you get older, the temptation of beer and pizza might be enough to lure some of your friends and family to help you move (though there are a few reasons why your friends may not ever help you move).
It will in the end probably save you money, though as you are amateurs moving rather than professionals you will have to add into the equation additional time to actually move things, as you and your friends probably won’t be able to do it as smoothly as a man and van company might be able to.
These are just a few ideas to help you save money when you move to your new place, whether its a new home you just bought, or a new flat in a city with roommates you don’t know…it’s a new adventure, but you don’t have to break the bank in doing so.
is a freelance writer who works frequently with an online shipping company that helps people get their things from here to there, with couriers and man and van services, among other things. She writes about everything from ways to be green to gift ideas, and loves the diversity of topics when she writes.
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November 2, 2023
lifestyle